The proposed USGS budget reflects research priorities to respond to nationally relevant issues, including water quantity and quality, ecosystem restoration, hydraulic fracturing, natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes, and support for the National Ocean Policy, and has a large R&D component.

USGS scientists study walruses off the northwestern Alaska coast in August as part of their ongoing study of how the Pacific walrus are responding to reduced sea ice conditions in late summer and fall.

New USGS research shows that rice could become adapted to climate change and some catastrophic events by colonizing its seeds or plants with the spores of tiny naturally occurring fungi. The DNA of the rice plant itself is not changed; instead, researchers are re-creating what normally happens in nature.

Now that field work has wrapped up at the Ice Age "Snowmastodon" fossil site near Snowmass Village, Colo., USGS and other scientists will begin work on unraveling the climate and environmental history of the area.

USGS scientists are studying the Earth‚Äôs conditions 3 million years ago to gain insight into the impacts of future climate. Join us Aug. 3 in Reston, Va., to learn how this information is used to better understand the magnitude of changes forecast for the end of this century.

Sea-ice habitats essential to polar bears would likely respond positively should more curbs be placed on global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new modeling study published today in the journal, Nature.

Landscape photos taken in the same place but many years apart reveal dramatic changes due to human and natural factors. The USGS Desert Laboratory Repeat Photography Collection, the largest archive of its kind
in the world, is 50 years old.

Looking for information on natural resources, natural hazards, geospatial data, and more? The USGS Education site provides great resources, including lessons, data, maps, and more, to support teaching, learning, K-12 education, and university-level inquiry and research.

The timing of animal migration and reproduction, and observing when plants send out new leaves and bear fruit, is increasingly important in understanding how climate change affects biological and hydrologic systems. Photo credit Copyright C Brandon Cole.

USGS studies the relationships among earth surface processes, ecological systems, understanding current changes in the context of prehistoric and recent earth processes, distinguishing between natural and human-influenced changes, and recognizing ecological and physical responses to changes in climate.

As the climate has warmed, many plants are starting to grow leaves and bloom flowers earlier. A new study published in the journal, Nature, suggests that most field experiments may underestimate the degree to which the timing of leafing and flowering changes with global warming.

A new study concludes that fossil fuel emissions are likely contributors to a substantial amount of organic carbon found on glaciers in Alaska. Fossil fuel emissions, which contain organic carbon, can speed up the rate of glacier melt when deposited on glacier surfaces. In addition, the organic molecules associated with these deposits can be transportedContinue Reading

Despite news articles warning of large-scale releases of methane due to climate change, recent research indicates that most of the world‚Äôs gas hydrate deposits should remain stable for the next few thousand years.

USGS scientists will join thousands of scientists, managers, and decision makers in Boston this week to present new findings on toxics at the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) conference in the Hynes Convention Center, Nov. 13-17.

On Nov. 3, USGS scientists Patrick Barnard and William Ellsworth will present a public lecture in Menlo Park, CA, providing Bay Area residents information about USGS research in the San Francisco Bay Area, including recent discoveries beneath San Francisco Bay and ongoing studies to better understand earthquake probabilities and the potential hazards associated with strong ground shaking.

Climate Change Impacts to Tribal Communities The USGS is working with Native American communities and organizations to understand climate change impacts to their land and neighborhoods. Projects include interviews with indigenous Alaskans to understand their personal observations of climate change, as well as studying how climate change is impacting sand dunes and posing risksContinue Reading

How will accelerated glacial melting over the next 50 years as a result of climate change affect the unique Gulf of Alaska and Copper River coastal ecosystems? USGS scientists are studying these processes and impacts.